Air- or gas-moving equipment for use with heat exchange and/or gasscrubbing apparatus

ABSTRACT

AIR- OR GAS-MOVING EQUIPMENT FOR A HEAT EXCHANGE OR GAS-SCRUBBING APPARATUS COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF AIR OR GAS-MOVING UNITS, EACH COMPRISING A FLUID OPERATED TURBINE AND A FAN COUPLED TO, SO AS TO BE DRIVEN BY, THE TURBINE, THE TURBINES BEING CONNECTED IN SERIES FOR OPERATION BY A COMMON OPERATION FLUID SUPPLY. THE EQUIPMENT MAY COMPRISE A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SETS OF SERIES-CONNECTED UNITS, THE SETS EITHER BEING CONNECTIBLE IN SERIES TO A COMMON OPERATING FLUID SUPPLY, OR EACH SET CONNECTIBLE INDEPENDENTLY TO A COMMON OPERATING FLUID SUPPLY OR EACH SET CONNECTIBLE TO A SEPARATE INDEPENDENT SUPPLY OR TWO OR MORE SETS MAY BE SERIES-CONNECTED TO ONE FLUID SUPPLY AND ANOTHER SET OR SETS TO ANOTHER FLUID SUPPLY.

June 6, 1972 E. MURPHY 3,667,864

AIR-OR GAS-MOVING EQUIPMENT FOR USE WITH HEAT EXCHANGE AND/OR GAS-SCRUBBING APPARATUS Filed May '7, 1970 2 Sheets-Shoot 1 Wmlw: MM MW 13 dm xm June 6, 1972 E. MURPHY 3,667,864

AIR-OR GAS-MOVING EQUIPMENT FOR USE WITH HEAT EXCHANGE AND/OR GAS-SCRUBBING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May '7, 1.970

FIGA.

W. W WW 5y mm W741 am X 51W fiaw ya United States Patent 01 AIR- R GAS-MOVING EQUIPMENT FOR USE WITH HEAT EXCHANGE AND/OR GAS- SCRUBBING APPARATUS Edmund Murphy, La Spezia, Italy, assignor to Coohng Development Ltd., Lucerne, Switzerland Filed May 7, 1970, Ser. No. 35,357 Claims priority, application Great Britain, May 14, 1969, 24,507/ 69 Int. Cl. F04b 17/00, 35/00; F24h 3/02 US. Cl. 417-53 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Airor gas-moving equipment for a heat exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus comprises a plurality of airor gas-moving units, each comprising a fluid operated turbine and a fan coupled to, so as to be driven by, the turbine, the turbines being connected in series for operation by a common operating fluid supply. The equipment may comprise a number of independent sets of series-connected units, the sets either being connectible in series to a common operating lfluid supply, or each set connectible independently to a common operating fluid supply or each set connectible to a separate independent supply or two or more sets may be series-connected to one fluid supply and another set or sets to another fluid supply.

This invention relates to improvements in and relating to airor gas-moving equipment for use with heat exchange and/ or gas-scrubbing apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has already been proposed to use with heat exchange and/or gas-scrubbing apparatus, airor gas-moving equipment comprising at least one fluid operated turbine and a fan coupled to, so as to driven by, the turbine for assisting the passage. of cooling medium, e.g. air, through the apparatus. The invention is concerned with equipment of the. above kind and comprising a plurality of such turbine-driven fan devices and aims to provide an improved arrangement of, and method of operating, such equipment.

'FIELD OF THE INVENTION The principal object of this invention is to provide airor gas-moving equipment of the above kind, the operation of which enables the maximum use to be made of the fluid power available for drying the turbine.

Another object of the invention is to provide airor gas-moving equipment of the above kind, which allows effective temperature control in heat exchange or gasscrubbing apparatus to be readily obtained.

A further object of the invention is to provide airor gas-moving equipment for heat exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus, the operation of which may be regulated, as required, to suit particular conditions prevailing in the apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide in or for a heat-exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus airor gasmoving equipment, which is of a simple and cheap construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one feature of the invention, there is provided, in or for a heat exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus, airor gas-moving equipment comprising a plurality of turbine-driven fan units operatively connected in series.

According to another feature of the invention, there is provided, in or for a heat exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus, airor gas-moving equipment comprising a 3,667,864 Patented June 6, 1972 ice BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, which illustrate some embodiments of the invention by way of example, it being clearly understood that the invention is in no way limited thereto or thereby, but that the true scope of the invention is defined in and by the appended claims. In the drawlIlgS,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat exchange apparatus having airor gas-moving equipment embodying the invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic plan illustrating one mode of interconnection of the sets of units shown in 'FIG. 1 to provide three sets of three units connected in series to a single source of operating fluid supply,

'FIG. 4 is a similar plan view to (FIG. 3, but illustrating a modified mode of interconnection employing two separate fluid supply systems and FIG. 5 is a similar view of a further modified mode of operation in accordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Advantageously, airor gas-moving equipment, in accordance with the invention, comprises a plurality of independent sets of series-connected units, the sets either being connectible in series to a common operating fluid supply or each set being connectible independently to a common operating fluid supply, or each set being connectible to a separate independent operating fluid supply, or two or more sets may be series-arranged for connection to one fluid supply and another set or sets connectible to another fluid supply, suitable means being provided for selectively manually connecting said sets as required.

Or, if desired, three or more independent sets of seriesconnected airor gas-moving units may be provided, one of which sets is.connectible to an operating fluid supply and each of the other sets is independently in direct series connection with said first mentioned set.

The turbine-fan units may advantageously be made from non-corrodible plastics materials preferably by the use of injection moulding procedures.

Heat exchange apparatus to which the invention may be applied may be of the indirect fluid contact type, such, for example, as a plain tube or finned tube exchanger, or of the direct fluid contact type, such, for example, as a Water cooling tower.

In carrying out the invention in practice, in the case of equipment comprising two or more sets of series-connected units, the manner of connection employed will be dictated by various factors, such as the size and/or overall linear dimensions of the heat exchangeor scrubbing apparatus in which the equipment is used, the number of fans, and consequently the number of turbines, required and the desired or possible pressure of the operating fluid supply.

The change from one mode of connection to another may be readily achieved in a simple manner. For example, a heat exchanger or water cooling tower may be provided with a number of, say six, turbine-operated fan units arranged in two rows of three series-conected units, having a fluid supply inlet adjacent an end unit of one row and an outlet adjacent the corresponding end unit of the other row, the opposed units at the opposite ends of the two rows being in series communication with one another by 3 a detachable connecting pipe connecting the outlet of one of said units to the inlet of the other of said units.

In this Way, the turbines may be operated as a single series-connected set of six turbines supplied with fluid from a single inlet, or, by detaching the aforesaid connecting pipe and utilising the former outlet as a second inlet, two separate fluid supply paths may be provided, each consisting of three series connected turbine-fan units.

In practice, any desired number of series-connected sets of units may be provided, and any suitable mode of interconnecting said sets may be adopted as desired.

Referring to the drawings and first to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, 1 denotes a tubular heat exchange apparatus having an inlet 2 and an outlet 3 for the fluid to be passed therethrough.

On the heat exchanger 1 is arranged an air-moving equipment generally indicated by the numeral 4 and comprising a casing 5 in which are mounted three sets 6, 7 and 3 of air-moving units, each set comprising three seriesconected air-moving units 6a, 7a and 8a respectively. Each unit is located in an air duct 9 formed in an inclined face 10 of the corrugated-like upper surface of the casing 5 so as to lie at an oblique angle to the horizontal plane of the heat exchanger 1.

As clearly shown in FIG. 2, each unit 6a of the three unit set 6 comprises a fan 11 coupled by a shaft 12 to a water turbine 13, the three units being mounted at spaced intervals within obliquely arranged housings 14 arranged at spaced positions along, and communicating with the interior of, a water supply pipe 15, having an inlet 16, for conection to a source of water supply, and an outlet 17. In this manner the three units are operatively connected in series for operation of the turbines by flow of water along the pipe 15.

Although, for the sake of clarity, the housings 14 have been shown as being formed integrally with a continuous pipe 15, it will be appreciated that, in practice, it will be preferable to form the pipe system in sections coupled together by successive independent unit housings 14, whereby the total length of the pipe 15 and the number of units 6:: arranged in series may be adapted to particular require ments.

It is to be understood that the other sets of units 7a and 8a are formed in the same manner as above described.

In FIG. 2, the arrows A, A indicate the direction of flow of the operating fluid, in this instance water, and the arrows B, B denote the direction of flow of the air induced by rotation of the fans 11. If desired, of course, the direction of flow may in each case be reversed.

In FIG. 1, 16a and 16b indicate the inlets to the pipes, not shown, serving the unit-series 7a and 8a.

In accordance with the invention, the sets of series-connected units, such as the sets 6, 7 and 8, may be operated independently or may be interconnected in any desired marmer depending on the dimensions of the heat exchanger with which the air-moving equipment is to be used and also on the cooling requirements in the, or in any particular portion of the, heat exchanger.

A number of alternative modes of operation are diagrammatically illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 of the drawmgs.

FIG. 3 shows the equipment of FIG. 1 comprising the three sets 6, 7 and 8, each of three units 6a, 7a and 8a connected together in series to form a single continuous flow path 18 for the operating water. This has been achieved by connecting together the outlets 17a, 17b of the sets 7 and 8 by a short pipe indicated at 19 and connecting the inlets 16, 16a of the sets 6 and 7 by a short pipe indicated at 20.

The operating water thus enters under pressure via the inlet 16b of set 8, passes successively through each each set 8, 7 and 6 to drive the turbine 13 of each unit and is exhausted through the outlet 17 of sets 6, whereby sub stantially all the available pressure of the water may be used to drive the turbines.

In FIG. 4 there are shown four sets 21, 22, 23 and 24, each consisting of three series-connected air-moving-units 21a, 22a, 23a and 24a respectively. In this instance, two separate sources of operating water supply are provided, one supply serving the sets 21 and 22, and the other serving the sets 23 and 24, thesets 21 and 22 being connected together by a short pipe 25 and the sets 23 and 24 being likewise connected together by a pipe 26. The arrows 27, 28 and 29, 30 show the direction of flow of the operating Water through the units.

FIG. 5 shows a further possible arrangement comprising three sets 31, 32 and 33, each comprising four seriesconnected units, 31a, 32a and 33a respectively. In this embodiment, the series-connected units 31a of the set 31 are connected to one source of water supply and the units 33a of the sets 33 are connected to another water supply. The two sets 32 and 33 are interconnected by a branch pipe, indicated by the numeral 34, located in the pipes 35 and 36 connecting respectively the two intermediate units 320: and 33a of each set to allow part of the water flowing into and through the set 33, after passing through two units 33a, to branch into the set 32 and to flow in both directions through the set 32, part of this water thus flowing through two of the units 32a in the direction of the arrow 37 and part through the other two units 32a of this set in the direction of the arrow 38, whilst at the same time the remainder of this water supply flows through the two further units 3341 of sets 33, as indicated by the arrow 39.

As will be readily appreciated, airor gas-moving equipmentembodyin-g the invention, when used in heat exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus, offers considerable advantages in practice.

For example, by suitable choice of the number of units connected in series and/ or of the number of sets of such series-connected units used, in dependence on the available operating fluid pressure or head, and the pressure drop occurring in each unit, maximum use of the available power can be achieved.

Moreover, simple'and uncomplicated turbines, which operate with a fluid pressure drop of from 5 to 10 ft. of water, may be used. For example, turbines of the Kaplan propeller type may be used. Such turbines are of simple construction and enable, where desirable, the use of small fans, which may be readily and cheaply fabricated, together with the turbines, from non-corrodible plastics material. These complete turbine-fan units may be made by injection moulding procedures. It will, of course, be appreciated that, owing to the low head or pressure requirement of turbines of this type, it would only be possible to use a single such turbine provided large volumes of water or other operating fluid are available.

In accordance with the invention, however, operating pressures similar to those used in Pelton wheels may be employed, as fluid quantities are reduced in proportion to the number of turbine units employed.

Likewise, reaction turbines of all types, such, for example, as a Francis turbine, which operate with beads of 40-50 feet, may be used in carrying out the invention.

Whilst in the above some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is in no way limited thereto or thereby, but that modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, any desired number of airor gas-moving units may be connected in series for operation by a single operating fluid supply, or any desired number of such units may comprise a set of series-connected units in equipment comprising a plurality of such sets. Moreover, equipment in accordance with the invention may comprise any desired number of sets of series-connected units, the number of units and/or the number of sets, and the manner of interconnection, employed depending on the size of the equipment, the size of the heat exchanger with which the equipment is to be used and the cooling requirements involved.

Again, particular cooling requirements in a limited area of a heat exchange apparatus having cooling mediummoving units arranged in accordance with the invention may be met by suitable choice of the mode of connection of the pertaining sets of units to operating fluid supply and/or by variation of the operating fluid pressure to such units. In this way, considerable saving of power expenditure is possible.

It is to be understood that the invention is applicable to all types of heat exchang or scrubbing apparatus and is not restricted to the use of any particular material or materials of construction.

What I claim is:

1. In or for a heat exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus, airor gas-moving equipment comprising a plurality of sets of airor gas-moving units distributable over the area of said apparatus, each set comprising a plurality of such units connected in series, each unit comprising an incompressible fluid operated reaction turbine and a fan coupled to and driven thereby, at least one incompressible operating fluid supply means associated with said apparatus, means for connecting one of said sets to and for operation by said fluid supply means, and means for selectively connecting at least some of said other sets for operation by said fluid supply means in another arrangement whereby the effective operation of said airor gasmoving equipment may be regulated in accordance with the cooling requirements of the apparatus.

"2. Airor gas-moving equipment according to claim 1 and including an additional incompressible turbine-operating fluid supply to which at least one of said sets is connectible.

3. Airor gas-moving equipment according to claim 1 in which the reaction turbines are water turbines.

4. Airor gas-moving equipment according to claim 1 wherein conduit means connect together the units of each set, and the shaft of each unit is directed generally longitudinally and angularly relative to said conduit means.

5. Airor gas-moving equipment according to claim 4 including a housing associated with each fan, and portions of said housings and conduit means at least initially direct air or gas and incompressible fluid in directions parallel to said shafts.

6. A method of operating airor gas-moving equipment for a heat exchange or gas-scrubbing apparatus comprising a plurality of sets of airor gas-moving units distributed over the area of said apparatus, each set comprising a plurality of such units connected in series, each unit comprising an incompressible fluid operated reaction turbine and a fan coupled to and driven thereby, which comprises the steps of connecting one of said sets to a supply of incompressible operating fluid and selectively connecting at least some of said other sets for operation by said fluid supply means in another arrangement.

7. A method according to claim 6 in which the incompressible operating fluid is water.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said another arrangement includes connecting said units of at least one of said other sets directly to said fluid supply means in parallel relation to said first mentioned set.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein said another arrangement includes connecting said units of at least one of said other sets in series relation to said first-mentioned set and to one another.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein said another arrangement includes connecting said units of at least one of said other sets in series relation to said first-mentioned set and in parallel relation to one another.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said another arrangement includes at least one set of said other sets of units being connected directly to said fluid supply means in parallel relation to said first mentioned set.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said another arrangement includes at least one set of said other sets of units being connected in series relation to said first mentioned set and to one another.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said another arrangement includes at least one set of said other sets of units being connected in series relation to said first mentioned set and in parallel relation to one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,764,099 9/1956 Werncrt 4l5200 2,038,347 4/1936 Cornell, Jr. 85

FOREIGN PATENTS 383,331 10/1923 Germany 16585 ROBERT M. WALKER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 16585; 417408 

